Enforcing regulations on the extremely dangerous nickel ore trade, where liquefaction of the cargo can make a vessel to sink in a matter of minutes are well known, has proved difficult in remote mining and loading locations.
Most challenging cargo
The reality of the nickel ore trade from the southern Philippines, mainly for export to China, is a far grittier one that would challenge even the most creative advertising agency. This is despite nickel ore being a key component in one of the key green technologies – rechargeble batteries. Although its largest use is in stainless steel.
Insufficient port facilities
In what is a multi-billion trade there might be an expectation of sophiscated loading facilities with purpose built wharves and conveyors. But as Andrew Malpas, president and gm, of P&I Correspondent Pandiman Philippines, explains the reality is a very different picture, something more akin to the “wild west”.
A Master with a vessel arriving in Surigao expecting a port with a pier and loading facilities is in for a shock. There are no loading facilities at the provincial port and the actual loading point can actually be an offshore anchorage some 60 km away.
The nickel ore is mined at opencast facilities, stockpiled on the beach and then barged out for transhipment to handysize and supramax bulkers. Should there be pier at all, it could well be built out of the same commodity being shipped – nickel ore.
Storage problems
With the ore stored in the open and the tropical rains that regularly lash the region it is easy to see how the moisture content of the ore can become too high, potentially leading to liquefaction when loaded on a ship. A change in weather patterns means that the traditional dry and wet seasons that the region experienced say 20 years ago are no longer now and there are often heavy rains all year round meaning it is no longer necessarily safe to ship cargoes even in the so-called dry season.
Cargo ships sink – crew killed
When the cargo undergoes liquefaction the vessels can sink extremely fast, in as little as just 30 seconds according to Malpas, with major loss of life. Since 2010 there have been seven vessels that have capsized on the Philippines and Indonesia nickel ore exports trades since 2010 and the last Emerald Star that sank in Philippines waters enroute from Indonesia to China saw the loss of 10 of the 26 crew.
Nikel – an unsafe cargo
Nickel ore is classified as a Group A cargo under the 2016 revision of the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code which should in theory ensure that cargoes are safe for shipment.
While mines or shippers are supposed to provide certification that cargoes meet the standards of the IMSBC Code in reality these tests do not meet the standard of the code. “Our current concerns are the method and quality of the certificate being issued by the mines and that the nickel ore is inherently unsafe to carry and analysis and results inadequate and not in line with the IMSBC Code,” Panidman said.
Forged ship certificates
A recent circular from Skuld warned: “Very often the shippers’ certificates are forged. The MC or TML declared by shippers are often inaccurate and the error can be as much as 10%.”
The circular added: “Local shippers/mines are very influential organisations and they are often armed. When a Master or local surveyors keep rejecting bad cargo, local surveyors might receive death threats from shippers. Moreover, dry cargoes can be placed onto wet cargo as disguise. From our experience, even for samples collected at dry season, they still failed the lab test.”
A simple can test
In the test, which at best could be described as unsophisticated, one or two kilos of nickel ore are put in a tin can and banged on a hard surface around 25 times, and if the ore starts to liquefy the cargo should be rejected. “The ‘can’ test is a rudimentary field test and does not supersede or replace proper analysis of the cargo for Flow Moisture Point and moisture content under controlled laboratory conditions,” Pandiman warned.
With a combination of remote locations, extremely basic storage and loading facilities, powerful mining companies and nearly year round heavy rains the extreme risks of the nickel ore trade are not about to go away and shipowners need to be fully aware of the issues and the rights they have.
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Source: Seatrade Maritime, Duddy Hidayat Aprianto on YouTube
